Spent the day around Akrotiri – not lots of birds around – quality rather than quantity. Was pleased though to see European Honey Buzzard, Lesser Spotted Eagle, Eurasian Sparrowhawk, juvenile Northern Goshawk, Western Marsh Harrier, Red-footed Falcon and Eleonora’s Falcon. Three White Stork were feeding in an alfalfa field. Flocks of European Bee-eater, Barn Swallow, Sand Martin and Red-rumped Swallow still passing through. Plenty of Whinchat, a couple of Northern Wheatear, two Lesser Grey Shrike and some juvenile Red-backed Shrikes. As far as waders were concerned still several Dunlin,plenty of Little Stint, Common Ringed Plover and lots of Kentish Plover – plus five Sanderling and two Spur-winged Lapwing.

Found my target species today at Agios Sozomenos – a newly arrived male Finsch’s Wheatear (well he wasn’t there on Wednesday!) was setting up his winter territory there. An interesting selection of raptors was flying over the area – all receiving close attention from the local Western Jackdaws – first a juvenile Bonelli’s Eagle, then a Long-legged Buzzard, a Common Buzzard and finally a Eurasian Sparrowhawk all had to run the gauntlet. The only raptor that the Jackdaw’s didn’t bother was a Peregrine Falcon flying around the cliffs.

I only saw one White Stork in the nearby clover fields but I understand that two had been present earlier in the morning.

Thanks to a tip off from a local birder, I went to fields to the south east of Nicosia this afternoon and found the two White Stork he had found there earlier today. I then took the opportunity to check if any Finsch’s Wheatear had arrived at nearby Agios Sozomenos but couldn’t find any. I did find two Cyprus Wheatear, a Blue Rock Thrush, a Purple Heron and many Cattle Egret in a watered field, at least one Red-throated Pipit and a Long-legged Buzzard. Little Owl were calling throughout the area and I saw three, although I am sure there were more.

The weather had an autumn feel this morning when I picked up Howard for a day around Paphos and Akrotiri. The wind, that at least lowered the temperature, also seemed to affect the birds that we saw with very little raptor movement noted.

We had one Honey Buzzard circling up over Paphos Sewage Works and a Western Marsh Harrier putting the many Yellow Wagtail to flight. Red-backed, Lesser Grey and a very pale juvenile Masked Shrike were found as were a couple of Spotted Flycatcher, several Whinchat, lots of Willow Warbler and a few Zitting Cisticola. We also had great views of two male Black Francolin. One was creeping along the side of one of the fields and the other emerged from the track side vegetation. At the Ezousas Soakaways we found at least four Turtle Dove and a flock of migrating European Bee-eater together with a juvenile European Roller. At least one Eurasian Reed Warbler was spotted and a Water Rail was heard.

Another Honey Buzzard greeted us as we arrived at Mandria where again there were plenty of Yellow Wagtail in the fields. We also found a couple of Northern Wheatear and at least one European Stone Curlew was in one of the ploughed fields. A couple of European Shag were offshore and two Yellow-legged Gull floated past. As we approached nearby Asprokremmos Dam we saw a Long-legged Buzzard fly over which landed on the slope opposite us enabling us to examine it through the ‘scope. More European Bee-eater were around as were many Sardinian Warbler, at least six Chukar and at least three Spotted Flycatcher.

We then headed for Phassouri Reed Beds where we ate our lunch as we checked for migrating raptors. No Honey Buzzards during our watch but we did see a European Sparrowhawk and a couple of Western Marsh Harrier. Howard managed to get some photographs of the European Bee-eaters in the trees but the strong winds were hindering both us and the birds. We went to Zakaki Marsh and from the new hide saw the immature Great White Pelican that has been there for several weeks now. A White Stork was also present with the Little Egret and Grey Heron on the opposite shore. We were treated to a flying display by at least five Whiskered Tern and also watched a Spotted Redshank and Common Kingfisher. Another Western Marsh Harrier was quartering the area and put most of the birds to flight.

Our final point of call was Lady’s Mile. An Eleonora’s Falcon flew westwards over the sand dunes and then we spotted a female Red-footed Falcon heading straight out to sea. Checking the waders we found a Sanderling in with the many Kentish Plover and Little Stint. A couple of Dunlin were also present. We had a good variety of species seen on a day made difficult by the strong winds. Nevertheless an enjoyable day out.